Jeremiah 20:7-18
It has been said that only 10% of the things we fear ever come to pass. Let me tell you a true story that illustrates the power of unnecessary fear.
There was a railway worker who accidentally locked himself in a refrigerated railway car. As he was unable to get out and unsuccessful in getting anyone else’s attention, he resigned himself to die of hypothermia. As he felt his body becoming numb, he recorded the story of his approaching death by scribbling sentences on the wall of the railroad car.
“I’m becoming colder,” he wrote. “Still colder, now, nothing to do but wait... I am slowly freezing to death... half asleep now, I can hardly write...” Finally, “These may be my last words.”
And they were his last words, for when someone finally opened the rail car, they found the man dead. However, the freezing mechanism wasn’t working, so the interior temperature was 56 degrees! There was a good supply of air, so it was ruled that the cause of death was fear.
Normally our fears are not that deadly, but they are always that toxic. It has been observed that the most common command in the Bible is “Do not fear.” It is found 365 times in the Scriptures, implying that God wants us to resist fear every day!
God’s grace is powerful enough to relieve all burdens.
If there was ever someone who had reason to be afraid, reason to complain about his rough treatment, it was the prophet Jeremiah. Today we’ll see how he dealt with his fear with faith.
1. Jeremiah complained about the rough treatment he’d endured. (7-8, 10, 14-18)
Verse seven has a pair of strong accusations against God. First, Jeremiah accused God of having MISLED him, presumably about what being a prophet would cost him. Read Jeremiah 1:4-10 and you’ll see Jeremiah did not want to be a prophet. This accusation is the kind of thing we say when we regret a decision but we don’t want to blame ourselves.
Second, Jeremiah accused God of having OVERPOWERED him, using His greater strength to force Jeremiah to do his will. You can hear a deep sense of frustration in this accusation. Both MISLED and OVERPOWERED are translated as “seduced” in other Old Testament passages.
Jeremiah complained that delivering God’s messages had incited opposition (7-8). He faced serious persecution because he truthfully and courageously spoke God’s message to the king and the people. To be fair, God made it plain to Jeremiah from the beginning that his ministry would be to ...STAND UP AGAINST NATIONS AND KINGDOMS. SOME YOU MUST UPROOT AND TEAR DOWN, DESTROY AND OVERTHROW. OTHERS YOU MUST BUILD UP AND PLANT.
Verse eight is a fair summary of the kinds of messages Jeremiah had to proclaim, loud warnings of VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION. It was the kind of message people didn’t want to hear. Their rejection of the bad news could be violent and destructive too.
Mockery and being the target of laughter was not the worst thing Jeremiah had to endure, but it still hurt to be made a HOUSEHOLD JOKE. It can be a hard thing to endure, being persecuted for doing the right thing. His detractors gave Jeremiah a nickname: in Hebrew, it was “Magor-misabib;” in English, “The Man Who Lives in Terror.” 1 Peter 1:7 encourages us that one purpose of these trials is to refine our faith so that we might shine gloriously on the day Jesus returns.
Jeremiah was rightly concerned about retaliation by his enemies (v. 10). Both kings and commoners found fault with Jeremiah. He opposed false prophets who delivered fake news of God’s pleasure with the people of Judah.
Like vultures circling in hope of a corpse, Jeremiah’s detractors threaten him with being turned into the authorities. They wanted to use his words against him. Even OLD FRIENDS are watching for a FATAL SLIP of his tongue. When that happened, his words would entrap him, and then they’ll get the REVENGE they desire.
Jeremiah was not distressed enough to welcome death. Worse, he regretted having been born (vs. 14-18). To CURSE the day of one’s birth is to hit a serious low moment in life. To CURSE the messenger who brought news of his birth expresses deep bitterness about one’s life, which he characterized as FILLED WITH TROUBLE, SORROW, AND SHAME.
Why was Jeremiah so deeply distressed? Here are some examples of the persecutions Jeremiah suffered.
- In vs. 1+2, Pashhur, the priest overseeing the temple, was enraged by Jeremiah’s message. He had the prophet WHIPPED and PUT IN STOCKS as punishment.
- In 38:6, he was cast into the bottom of a muddy and cold cistern.
- In 43:1-13, he was exiled to Egypt.
Jeremiah is referred to as the “Weeping Prophet,” and for good reason. The content of his messages grieved him as much as did the pushback from leaders who didn’t want to hear the truth. God never faulted Jeremiah for making these angry, blasphemous-sounding statements because Jeremiah was fighting to have faith despite all he suffered.
2. Jeremiah persisted in faith. (9, 11-13)
Even if he wanted to give in to fear, the word of God within him would not allow Jeremiah to give up (v. 9). Note he wrote IF... he’s describing the likely outcome of a hypothetical circumstance, making an emotional guess. Even if he vowed to stop repeating the Lord’s messages, he couldn’t stop because... HIS WORD BURNS IN MY HEART LIKE A FIRE, LIKE A FIRE IN his BONES. In terms of actual experience, Jeremiah wore himself out trying to hold his tongue and keep God’s word to himself, eventually finding out that he was incapable of holding it inside himself.
Jeremiah praised the LORD who would defend him (11-13). He praised God as a GREAT WARRIOR, expressing great confidence in who God is and what He does. (11)
- THE LORD STANDS BESIDE ME.
- BEFORE HIM MY PERSECUTORS WILL STUMBLE. THEY CANNOT DEFEAT ME.
- THEY WILL FAIL AND BE THOROUGHLY HUMILIATED. THEIR DISHONOR WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
It is good, especially in moments of deep sorrow, for us to step back and look at the “big picture.” Jeremiah looked ahead to see the complete defeat of his enemies, God’s perfect salvation. In v. 12 he asked God to grant him opportunity to see his opponents defeated.
He praised God as the LORD OF HEAVEN’S ARMIES, who...
- Tests people’s DEEPEST THOUGHTS AND SECRETS to see if they are indeed righteous.
- Wreaks VENGEANCE against those whom He finds to be false.
Jeremiah was confident of the outcome of such an examination because he had COMMITTED his CAUSE to the Lord.
Jeremiah sounds like a psalmist in v. 13. He urges the reader to SING praises to the Lord. The reason for his worship is gratitude to God for having RESCUED him from his OPPRESSORS, especially since he was POOR AND NEEDY, having no means to save himself. As Jesus said in the Beatitudes section of the Sermon on the Mount, people who face difficulty in this life are blessed because the LORD will reward them for their faithfulness.
God’s grace is powerful enough to relieve all burdens.
If you’re seeing this for the first time, you may wonder how such a passage got included in the Bible. It may sound to you that Jeremiah is speaking blasphemy, being disrespectful to the Lord.
First, let’s note that many of the psalm-writers expressed similar emotions in their hymns. God did not condemn them or exclude their complaints.
Second, let’s note the difference between an angry unbeliever who’s complaining about God and a believer. They may say similar things, but the unbeliever’s intent is to argue against faith and ridicule those who believe. The believer is struggling to have faith, to continue to believe even amid adversity. Jeremiah is an example of someone struggling with God, not against Him.
Though the priest Pashur released Jeremiah the next day, the damage was done. Chapter 20 records one of the lowest points in the prophet’s life. But, as we have seen, it also reports statements of abiding faith in God, an irresistible urge to tell others the true words God has spoken.
May we, in our faith journey, follow Jeremiah’s example. When fears, failures, and rejection beset us, let us, in prayer, be honest with God about our hurts. Let us also tell Him that we are dedicated to believing His word and counting on His promises. Then we will see God’s grace in a new light, we will experience His salvation, see Him rescue us, and know the joy of God’s hand on us.
RESOURCES:
Message #1050
R. Reed Lessing, Overcoming Life’s Sorrows (Learning from Jeremiah), 2021, pp. 145-155.
C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 8, Jeremiah, 1982, pp. 315-323.
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